Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org, I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the right-wing Leninists and Stalinists at the head of the MAGA movement

and the Trump White House, Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, and the FCC's Brendan Carr,

along with the far-right Opus Day Catholic fundamentalists, J.D. Vance, Project 2025, Kevin Roberts, and the Supreme Court Packer, Leonard Leo,

who were executing the Trump authoritarian takeover of American democracy to reshape the country into a white Christian nationalist nation,

dominated by oligarchs and tech fascists, with the so-called radical left purged from the media,

schools, universities and culture to bring about a golden age in a purified one-party state.

Joining us is Sidney Blumenthal, the former assistant senior advisor to President Bill Clinton,

and a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton.

He has been a national staff reporter for the Washington Post, Washington editor and staff writer for the New Yorker, and his books include the bestsellers, the Clinton Wars,

the rise of the counterestablishment and the permanent campaign.

His latest book is All the Powers on Earth, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1856, 1860,

and his latest article at The Guardian is, with Kimmel's suspension,

the FCC chair made himself Trump's chief of comedy.

Then we'll examine the unheralded role of the United Nations

as Trump takes America out of the world body.

He is busy trashing,

only to have China fill the void.

Joining us is Mark Hanna, a senior fellow at the Institute for Global Affairs, a non-profit

public organization at the Eurasia Group and the creator and host of its None of the Above

podcast.

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